Sixty Rice students watched from the crowd as ten presidential candidates spoke on stage at the third Democratic primary debate at Texas Southern University on Thursday evening. On campus, around 40 more students attended the Rice University Young Democrats’ watch party in Duncan Hall.

With the recent precipitous drops in acceptance rates at Rice, students, including ourselves, began to wonder — how will this affect our rankings? As much as we claim to not care about how we’re ranked, it doesn’t stop us from sharing the latest Niche or Princeton Review ranking (especially if it makes us look good).

Rice dropped a place in the recently released 2020 U.S. News & World Report National Universities rankings, tying with Cornell University at No. 17. Last year, Rice was tied with Cornell at No. 16 and the previous year Rice was in a four-way tie for No. 14.

In an email sent out to the Rice community, President David Leebron and Interim Provost Seiichi Matsuda gave an update on the task force on slavery, segregation and racial injustice, including the expected budget, timline and the new co-chairs, professors Alexander X. Byrd and Caleb McDaniel.

The Hoot has undergone two major changes this semester, expanding their operating hours to Fridays and Saturdays and adding a chicken sandwich from Smashburger to their menu. The addition came after The Hoot announced last semester that they would be discontinuing the sale of menu items from Chick-fil-A.

A chain-link fence was placed around the construction site for new Sid Richardson College on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 3, blocking off direct student access to large portions of South Colleges Residents Lot.

Construction of a new five-story Hanszen College dormitory made out of mass timber will begin in 2021, according to Mark Ditman, the associate vice president of Housing and Dining, and Anzie Gilmore, the assistant director for project management and engineering.

There hasn’t been a Friday the 13th since July 2018, and with Halloween rapidly approaching, there’s no better time to get your spook on than this weekend. Curl up under the covers and catch up on the biggest horror flicks you missed over the summer.

McMurtry College junior Jackson Richard White came into college wanting to study astrophysics, but he said he found an affinity for classical studies after his first-year writing-intensive seminar, “Propaganda in the Roman Empire.”

The Rice volleyball team completed a three-game sweep of two opponents last weekend during the Rice Adidas Invitational at Tudor Fieldhouse with two 3-1 victories over Loyola Marymount University on Friday and Saturday, capping the invitational with a 3-0 victory over Abilene Christian University. On Tuesday evening, the Owls continued their hot streak by defeating Houston Baptist University 3-0. Rice improved to 7-0 on the season and is off to the program’s best start since 1998.

Brian Lee, first-year head coach of Rice soccer, grew up in Scotland. According to Lee, growing up in a country widely known for its youth and professional soccer leagues led to his indoctrination in the sport.

Exactly one month after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, and three days after the shooting in the Midland-Odessa community in West Texas, members of the Rice community met in the Grand Hall of the Rice Memorial Center for a panel discussion and vigil in an event called “Reflections on El Paso: A Time for Unity.”

For years, students on campus and the Thresher editorial board have been petitioning for more visual and dramatic arts support — in space, funding and recognition. With Tuesday’s announcement of a new, dedicated VADA building in the near future, there is finally hope that all three of these requests will be fulfilled.The Thresher editorial board applauds the efforts of Dean of the School of Humanities Kathleen Canning, VADA chair John Sparagana and the Humanities Advisory Board as well as the countless student voices that have been petitioning for increased VADA attention for years. The editorial board also applauds the administration for its openness to the idea and commitment to fundraise for the project.